


A Walk Down Memory Lane

by Deviant_Donghun



Series: Birthday drabbles and one shots [5]
Category: A.C.E (Beat Interactive Band)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-23
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2020-03-13 04:48:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18933748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deviant_Donghun/pseuds/Deviant_Donghun
Summary: A little thing that I wrote for A.C.E's anniversary. It has no dialogue and is entirely first person because I tried something new. I don't know how well it turned out but here it is.





	A Walk Down Memory Lane

**Author's Note:**

> This is from the perspective of someone who ran into the boys one day and became fast friends with them, only after that did the narrator find out that they were kpop stars.

The memories this building held for me were few and far between. However, this didn't mean that each memory wasn't special to me, every one of them made even more precious by the length between them. As I walked down the brightly lit white hall, I recalled the last building this had been done in and smiled. This one may hold fewer memories, but many of them were happier than the last ones were. I opened the door to an empty practice room, the only sound the click of the lock. There was no music playing, no rhythmic footsteps, each moving to the same tune that only they could hear, no laughing, no voices raised in joy or lowered in sadness. The room was clean, no drops of sweat on the floor, no dirty towels laying on the floor, no smudges on the mirrors, no bags left lying around, everything picked up and put where it belongs, nothing out of place, everything spotless.

My smile turned sad as I thought of the countless hours of pain, heartache, and tears spent here. It turned up a bit at the thought of the reason they weren't here. I sent a silent thought their way, hoping for the best concert they had ever had, before closing the door and turning away. Back down the pristine hall, back into the car, back into the traffic, going back to the beginning. Standing outside of the restaurant, the place that started it all, I let the nostalgia flow through me. I walked to the back, down the dimly lit stairs with the cobwebs in the corners, down the short but equally dim hallway, into the old practice room, the beep of a lock once again greeting me. I took my time looking around, once again finding an empty room, one that screamed with more memories than the last one.

Everywhere I looked, a memory greeted me like an old friend, bringing to the surface yet another feeling. Here was pain, there sadness, in that corner was a small pocket of regret, in this corner a larger one of anger, here hopelessness, yet another pocket with helplessness in it. With all of that, there was a bright and shining memory and feeling of overwhelming happiness, the kind that makes one want to throw back their head and laugh at the same time as cry their heart out. Wandering over to this particular spot, I let myself relive that half hour of joy over them having finally made it, having finally debuted.

I stayed there for a while, not leaving the room but wandering it, seeking out and reliving each memory in the room, taking the bad with the good and living it all. From the moment I found the boys in there to the moment they wanted me to stay for good, to the last second of the last day there, closing the door and looking at the room one more time. Eventually, I came to stand in the discolored patch of the floor, the wood so worn it was at a slightly lower elevation than the rest. I thought of all the times I would slip into the room to see the boys in the middle of a routine, the many hours I had watched them dance, wearing the varnish off the floor slowly but surely, the countless times I had seen one or more of them collapse from lack of sleep or exhaustion, the others looking on in terror while still trying to finish before they too could collapse. 

I curled up on one of the chairs still there, just absorbing all of the things I was thinking. It had been almost a full year since they had moved out of this room and into the much better one across town, but it felt like just yesterday I had been consoling one of them about their insecurities, their greatest fears. I remembered coming here during their survival shows time, the room earily quiet without the five young men, little more than boys really, filling it with their noise and movement and presence, giving the place a life of its own. The room had felt barren back then, like it was some sort of shrine that should have been left untouched. Nevertheless, I had come in and cleaned it once a week, hoping against hope that I would walk in and once again hear their voices filling the room rather than the silence that had permeated it in their absence. I had hoped everyday that they did well and made it into the groups but at the end of the day secretly hoped that they would all come back to me. I watched every episode of both shows on the edge of my seat, always glad to have even the slightest glimpse of the boys and to know that they were alright.

Then that fateful day came, when the first one came home. I held him as he cried against me, finally letting his guard down and feeling safe to feel again. He cried against my shoulder for an hour before drying his eyes and asking if I had any word from the others. I told him about the latest episodes but knew nothing more than he did. We waited together, both now having someone to wait with, watching each episode, watching the pain on his face as he longed for that to be him, to still be in the game and in the running. I held him close as we both dreaded each elimination, begging for each of them to make it through to the next round but also wanting them all home.

Finally, all but one were back with me, two others having the possibility of going off as well. I consoled the last one who didn't make it, letting him know that it was okay to feel sad and angry for not getting picked. When the time came, I comforted the two who could have gone on to greatness with other groups but were cast aside when funds and time ran short. We all waited for the final member to come back, loving the brief calls and visits we got with him, the time never being long enough to satisfy us. I rejoiced with the others over his second debut, his first album going out, his first stage, his first break that had him back with you, his second album. Eventually, he came back for good, no more having to go back after a time, no more having to deal with the distance and not being able to see him.

The door opened, dragging me out of my thoughts of the past and bringing me back into the present. I smiled as I saw all five of my boys, the men that felt more like brothers to me than anyone I had ever met, the five stars of my life, standing in the doorway. They all looked tired and as if they could use a good meal but they were there and that was all that mattered to me as I embraced them in a big, sweaty group hug. I squeezed them extra tight for who knows the last time this would happen. Who knows the last time we will all be in this room at the same time. The only sure thing in this moment is that everything was moving forward and looking good.

**Author's Note:**

> I know I want to do a one shot for Junhee, who's birthday is coming up soon. I don't have any solid ideas for it yet. Feel free to leave requests, whether it's something you want to see or a song that I can work off of. I won't do smut but everything else (fluff, angst, heartbreak, the whole nine yards) is on the table. I'm excited to see what you guys come up with (or don't, it's not mandatory).  
> I'm also thinking of combining all of my birthday one shots (including this one) and putting them into one book instead of six different ones. So some of my works might disappear but they won't be gone forever. (I have no idea why I'm telling you guys but here we are.)


End file.
